Alabama Crimson Tide vs Penn St. Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Dec 14, 2019

Lamar Stevens registered a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Curtis Jones added 18 points to help host Penn State record a 73-71 win over Alabama on Saturday afternoon in University Park, Pa.

The Crimson Tide trailed by as many as nine points in the second half before rallying for their 11th consecutive home victory.

Trailing 72-71 down the stretch, the Crimson Tide had a chance to take the lead before Penn State's Mike Watkins blocked a driving layup by Kira Lewis with 38 seconds left. Watkins missed a pair of free throws and split a pair after that to close the scoring.

Alabama shot just 35.1 percent (27 of 77) but was especially cold from beyond the 3-point arc after halftime, going 3-for-15. Still, the Crimson Tride found the outside touch when it mattered. Alex Reese drilled a 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining to bring Alabama to within 70-69, the team's first 3 in nearly 11 minutes.

James Bolden (15 points) and Reese (12) finished in double figures for Alabama, while Herbert Jones had a team-high nine rebounds.

The Crimson Tide led for 24:19 in the program's first visit to University Park since December 1982.

Myreon Jones added 17 points for Penn State. Watkins had 10 boards and Stevens contributed a career-high five blocks.

Alabama appeared to create distance for good after using an 11-4 run to take a 52-43 lead with 14:53 to go. But Penn State kept coming, tying the game at 57 on a Myles Dread trey with 11:28 remaining before grabbing a 64-63 edge on a three-point play from Stevens at the 5:40 mark.

It was Penn State's first lead since there was 5:53 remaining in the first half.

Alabama took a 40-34 lead into the break, shooting 35.9 percent from the field compared to 32.3 percent for Penn State. Both teams struggled from beyond the 3-point arc, combining to hit just 10 of 36 attempts.

--Field Level Media